It was thirsty.
How much water has it been getting>

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but it might also have powdery mildew - the leaves may have a white powdery substance on them. This is common for dogwoods, and is unsightly, but not threatening. Good air circulation helps prevent it. If you are upset by it, then mixing milk with water, at almost any dilution and spraying the leaves at the first sign of it next year should ward it off. Spray as needed over the summer. This is better as a preventative - almost nothing works for a full-blown case.

It looks as though the tree didn't get enough water in the beginning. Try scratching lightly at the seemingly dead branches - if there is no green cambium layer under the bark, then the branches are dead - you might as well prune them off, just where the new growth starts. Sometime this winter, while the leaves are off the tree, you can look carefully at it, from all around, and decide if you need to prune any other branches to get a good shape to the mature tree - it's better to do this while the tree is small, and the cuts are small. RIght now, however, the tree needs all the leaves it has to grow good roots, so it can be healthy next year.

Check the soil, down 2-3" - if it is dry, water, and if it is damp, wait and check again in a day or two. Water deeply and slowly, so the water soaks to the bottom of the root area. Then wait to water until the soil is dry at the surface again, not on a rigid time schedule. You want to give it the equivalent of an inch of rain per week for the first year, then you can start tapering back. If it rains, adjust your watering accordinly.

It looks as though that area of your yard is mulched, which is good - you want no more than 4" of mulch, however. Just make sure there is no mulch in the 2-3" next to the trunk, as piling mulch up around trunks can encourage rot in the future.

debbit,

Thanks for all the info. I think I am watering it enough--I planted 3 crape myrtles, a river birch, and several other azaleas at the same time, and they are all doing fine.

I checked the dogwood today and saw no powdery mildew; however, I will go ahead and spray the milk on it.

The branch on the right that has no leaves died about three weeks ago, so I pruned it off to where it was green. The branch under that one--if you look real close, you will see green tape on it where it joins the trunk. About two months ago, a squirrel jumped on it and broke it, so I taped it together. It looks like it might have grown back together because it has not died.

Should I fertilize this tree this fall? I really don't know how old it is. I purchased it at a nursery that was destroyed by a storm, and trees had just blown down all over and got mixed up, so they didn't know too much about it.

Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it.

Jeane

Jeane, I would wait to fertilize until next spring, and then use a fertilizer rated for trees and shrubs, not a lawn fertilizer. Be aware that the azaleas like a fertilizer for acid-loving plants, while the others may not appreciate that one as much.

I would imagine that the damage was done in the nursery, while the pots were fallen over, since the new growth is pretty well established.

The branch the squirrel broke may survive and may not - if it keeps getting new leaves, it has a good chance.

Branches that cross over each other and rub aren't healthy for the tree. I can't tell from the angle of the photo, but it looks as though the branches on the right of the photo may develop such that they rub - taking one of them out in the next few years might be a good idea. And since one of them is the squirrrelly one, nature may help you along. If both are living, a few years down the road, decide which one adds the most to the shape of the tree, and take off the other one.

While the milk mixture is pretty innocuous, unless the tree really has powdery mildew, don't spray it. It won't hurt the tree, but it's an extra effort on your part.

two thoughts - both may be totally unrelated to your problem, but just in case:

1) if you did use something like Hollytone or anything else to make your soil acidic for the Azaleas, the dogwood might not like it. I tried this once when I was putting Hollytone on my hollies and decided to sprinkle some on my sweetshrub, buckthorn tallhedge, and chokeberry. Boy they all hated it! (Except the holly). None died but I had to prune parts off that shriveled up just like in your picture.

2) In zone 5 I have to give my dogwoods some sun or they are unhappy. They also needs lots of water (at the base of the plant) as others have said.

I know you are in zone 8 so your sun is much stronger than mine.

Let us know how your dogwood does....